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Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

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Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#71
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With a murder rate twice any other developed country[1], the United States clearly has a serious violence problem, and taking guns out of the hands of the average Joe would surely help reduce it. The second clause does not follow from the first. Murder in the US is heavily demographically biased, and most gun owners are not murderers. Furthermore, will you be the one going door to door to collect everyone's firearms?…

>Furthermore, will you be the one going door to door to collect everyone's firearms? Japan made it very difficult to own new firearms after they passed new Swords and Firearms laws. They allowed current gun owners to keep them, but they were not transferrable or inheritable. In other words, there are precendents for "taking away" arms, it's not unheard of. Peopple have figured out how to do this.

> Peopple have figured out how to do this.

'This' being 'taking firearms away from people willing to obey the laws in the first place'.

What's the problem with using that logic to take firearms away from criminals?

Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#72
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But people need to get to places. People don't need guns for daily survival. Japan annually sees double digit gun-deaths. In the US we see triple digit accidental gun deaths.

There is still a significant number of people in the US who hunt for subsistence, or to supplement their diet. If you live in rural Alaska, you might rely on your gun for daily survival in a very real and immediate sense. Some cynics might say the same for Compton or Detroit.

Of course (I live right near Alaska and hunt).

If you can prove you hunt (permission from a land owner, hunting permit, tags, etc.) you should be allowed to own a couple of weapon. No semi or fully automatics, no handguns, no "assult" shotguns or what-not. Those are not for hunting, and every hunter knows it.

Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#73
post #36
post #26

Any competent machinist can make functional semiautomatic weapons. This is just the next step in making it even easier. If the United States ever got serious about banning firearms, a massive homebrew industry would grow up overnight. Gunpowder is not fundamentally harder to make than methamphetamine. People who quite rightly see our drug laws as pointless and ineffective somehow often miss that a gun ban would be no…

> If the United States ever got serious about banning firearms, a massive homebrew industry would grow up overnight. Do you have any stats or experience to back that up? It might happen, but you are stating as fact something that's not been tested. Anecdotally, in Australia where gun laws are very strict, it's difficult to get firearms. Yes, serious hardened criminals still get their hands on them, which certainly is…

The difference between Australia and the US is that here in the US, we love our guns. A lot. Look what happened during the alcohol prohibition. Look how well our drug war is going. If you try to take guns away from Americans, especially the midwest, I will guarantee you there will be riots. I don't think some of you realize just how much American's love their guns.

I own exactly zero guns, but I fully support the 2nd amendment.

Using the argument of "Hardened criminals will still get them anyway" is like saying we shouldn't have a law against murder because some people will do it anyway, so it's a waste of time. The point is to deter or make it extremely difficult for as many people as possible

No, it is nothing like saying that. Murder in itself is a very bad thing. Owning a gun isn't a bad thing, it's what the gun can be capable of that is bad. Just like alcohol itself isn't a bad thing, it's what the person is capable of doing when drunk, that is bad. That's why alcohol isn't illegal, but driving drunk is. That's why guns shouldn't be illegal, but using them in an unsafe manner should be.

Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With a murder rate twice any other developed country[1], the United States clearly has a serious violence problem, and taking guns out of the hands of the average Joe would surely help reduce it. The second clause does not follow from the first. Murder in the US is heavily demographically biased, and most gun owners are not murderers. Furthermore, will you be the one going door to door to collect everyone's firearms?…

To be fair, this tool has only one use: it kills things. Whenever I see arguments about how we should ban cars because they kill more people than guns per year, I always think about that. Cars are good for all kinds of things, and they happen to incidentally cause death. Guns are pretty much only good for killing things. I live in the U.S. I'm not saying we should uniformly ban all weapons, period; I think the issue…

> To be fair, this tool has only one use: it kills things.

If you ignore all of the other recreational uses, sure; you can also say that motorcycles only have one use: To kill people who ride them and the people those riders hit.

Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I recall correctly, the lower is also the only part of the assembled weapon that requires registration.

Incorrect. The lower is the only part of the assembled weapon upon which a serial # is applied and a tax is paid. It is also the # that is recorded on the Form 4473 at the dealer when you purchase the weapon. There is no federal level firearms registration (excepting NFA items), and only a few states that do so as well.

Oh, and if you build it yourself (as this person has done), no tax need be paid, no serial # need be applied, and all perfectly legal provided you have not been restricted from purchasing a weapon through normal channels. That is, a felon making a weapon is now a felon-in-possession, where a citizen with full rights making one has not committed a crime.

Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#76
post #64
post #26

Any competent machinist can make functional semiautomatic weapons. This is just the next step in making it even easier. If the United States ever got serious about banning firearms, a massive homebrew industry would grow up overnight. Gunpowder is not fundamentally harder to make than methamphetamine. People who quite rightly see our drug laws as pointless and ineffective somehow often miss that a gun ban would be no…

Banning guns will require a change in the constitution, and will likely never happen as a result. In addition, even if it did happen, it would likely be unpopular because of the demand side as you mention. That being said, the argument(s) for mandatory background checks, tracking whose buying what, and assault weapons restrictions are pretty compelling, and while they are supply side solutions, they can hardly be cal…

what if people with assault weapons were also outed in their neighborhoods?

That would be fun. A list for criminals of 'houses not to rip off'. Also: list of houses to rip off with impunity.

Would you be willing to share a wall with someone who had 6k rounds of ammunition?

6,000 rounds is not lot - a few guys can burn that many off in a weekend.

Sure, why not? What matters is intent.

Also: a prudent gun owner is not going to use a rifle in an apartment building or duplex.

That's what shotguns are for.

(edited: content)

Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#77
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the United States ever got serious about banning firearms, a massive homebrew industry would grow up overnight. Do you have any stats or experience to back that up? It might happen, but you are stating as fact something that's not been tested. Anecdotally, in Australia where gun laws are very strict, it's difficult to get firearms. Yes, serious hardened criminals still get their hands on them, which certainly is…

With a murder rate twice any other developed country[1], the United States clearly has a serious violence problem, and taking guns out of the hands of the average Joe would surely help reduce it. The second clause does not follow from the first. Murder in the US is heavily demographically biased, and most gun owners are not murderers. Furthermore, will you be the one going door to door to collect everyone's firearms?…

[deleted]

Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#78
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. See my post about making guns by hand. As a 12 year old boy I was making gunpowder from drugstore items and launching rockets made from rolled-up newspaper. This stuff ain't hard to do!!

Of course. Let's pretend Billy Bob is a heated rage because he just found out so-and-so slept with so-and-so (or whatever). What's more likely? a) He walks around to so-and-sos house with his legally purchased, unlicensed, unregistered semi automatic assault rifle and 1000+ rounds, and kills the whole family, and anyone else unlucky enough to be nearby. or b) He spends days (weeks?) making his own gun, gunpowder and…

> Billy Bob

And this kind of simple classist bigotry ("The poor people are dangerous! They aren't like us!") is one reason the people who want to increase firearm regulation have done such a terrible job of it: You can't intelligently impose laws on a culture you have no understanding of, especially if you think it's not important to understand.

Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#79
post #26

Any competent machinist can make functional semiautomatic weapons. This is just the next step in making it even easier. If the United States ever got serious about banning firearms, a massive homebrew industry would grow up overnight. Gunpowder is not fundamentally harder to make than methamphetamine. People who quite rightly see our drug laws as pointless and ineffective somehow often miss that a gun ban would be no…

[deleted]

Re: Gunsmith Uses 3D Printer To Make A Rifle

#80
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I resent your (probably intentional) choice of names. Were you trying to pick on rednecks/hicks? Anyways, most likely: he does nothing. Your option A is silly. First, 1000 rounds of .223 is fairly heavy (that's > 30 magazines of normal size). Second, "Unregistered"? "Unlicensed"? What good is paperwork going to do if he decides to shoot someone? We already have ( http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp#background ) f…

> I resent your (probably intentional) choice of names. Were you trying to pick on rednecks/hicks? Apologies. I was trying to use a "generic" name. > Second, "Unregistered"? "Unlicensed"? What good is paperwork going to do if he decides to shoot someone? I expect he'll be less likely to kill people if he knows the weapon is tied to him. (and he might not have it in the first place, which is the case if I try to buy o…

> I was trying to use a "generic" name.

No, you were not. It was deliberately aimed as a classist swipe.

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